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kerfuffle. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
kerfuffle, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
kerfuffle in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
kerfuffle you have here. The definition of the word
kerfuffle will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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English
Etymology
Probably from Scots curfuffle, equivalent to ker- + fuffle, or related to Irish cíor thuathail (“confusion, bewilderment”). Similar to modern Welsh cythrwfl (“uproar, trouble, agitation”)
Pronunciation
Noun
kerfuffle (plural kerfuffles)
- (chiefly Commonwealth, informal) A disorderly outburst, disturbance, commotion, or tumult.
- Synonyms: brouhaha, donnybrook, fracas, hubbub, hullabaloo, mess, racket
2009 May 22, Stuart Heritage, “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):You know all this kerfuffle about Jordan and Peter Andre, and how you don’t know if they’re really splitting up or it’s just an act […]
2011 June 6, Mark Memmott, “Sarah Palin's Had Her Say; Now Let's Hear From Paul Revere”, in The Two-Way, National Public Radio:There's been a bit of a kerfuffle the past couple days over something Sarah Palin said about Paul Revere.
2023 May 28, Nadia Asparouhova, “Remembering GitHub's Office, a Monument to Tech Culture”, in Wired, →ISSN:The debate seemed innocuous—a minor kerfuffle, but nothing that couldn’t be resolved and moved on from.
Derived terms
Translations
disorderly outburst
- Bulgarian: суматоха (bg) f (sumatoha)
- Catalan: aldarull (ca) m, commoció f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 混亂/混乱 (zh) (hùnluàn), 動亂/动乱 (zh) (dòngluàn), 鬧騰/闹腾 (zh) (nàoteng), 吵鬧/吵闹 (zh) (chǎonào)
- Czech: povyk (cs) m, rámus (cs) m, mela (cs) f, tahanice (cs) f
- Dutch: tumult (nl)
- Faroese: ófriður m, rok n
- Finnish: hälinä (fi), hässäkkä (fi)
- French: désordre (fr) m, tumulte (fr) m, brouhaha (fr) m
- German: Wirbel (de) m, Aufruhr (de) m, Theater (de) n, Durcheinander (de) n
- Portuguese: bafafá (pt) m, distúrbio (pt) m, tumulto (pt) m
- Russian: сумато́ха (ru) f (sumatóxa)
- Spanish: disturbio (es), descalzaperros m
- Swedish: ståhej (sv) n, uppståndelse (sv) c
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Verb
kerfuffle (third-person singular simple present kerfuffles, present participle kerfuffling, simple past and past participle kerfuffled)
- (chiefly Ireland, UK, Commonwealth, informal) To make a disorderly outburst or commotion.